Guy wire guard



R. H. EARLE GUY WIRE GUARD Dec. 31; 1940.

Filed April 4, 1938 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented De... 31, 1940 Ralph H. Earle, Wauwatosa, Wis., assignor to Line I Material Company, South Milwaukee, Wis., a i

corporation of Delaware 7 2 Application April 4, 1938, SerialNo. 199,971 6 Claims. (o1; 18.9-31.5)

This invention relates to improvements in guy I wire guards.

It is an object of this invention to provide for guy wires a guard which will have a maximum 7 amount of strength with a minimum weight of material, which will permit free ventilation within the guard and thereby prevent the deposit of moisture and minimize the possibility of corrsion of parts within the guard, which will reflect light at a multiplicity of angles visible to persons approaching the guard and thereby rendering the guard more serviceable for its function, which will permit full visibility on the under side'of the guard, thus facilitating rapid installation on the guy wire, and which will be cheaper to manu-- facture than guards of the prior art devices.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation illustrating an embodiment of my invention as it is applied to the guy wire. i

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. l.-

' Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged view of a portion of the guard as it appears before it is shaped to cylindrical form.

The guard of this invention is preferably formed of a single sheet of sheet metal which is perforated throughout its surface with a large number of elongated slots. When the sheet has been perforated as indicated, the slotsare spread laterally relative to their length toform a metal sheet having. the appearance of a diamondshaped network.

Fig. 3 illustrates the sheet as it appears after the perforations have been spread. This sheet comprises a grillwork I having a multiplicity of diamond-shaped apertures 2. The apertures are disposed in a symmetrical line and are offset relative to corresponding apertures inan adjacent line.

After the sheet has been cut and spread as indicated, it then is formed into a desired cylindrical shape such as illustrated in Fig. 2. When the sheet is formed into cylindrical shape, the margins 3 of the apertures are caused to shape them:

selves into various angular relationships to each other, whereby the surfaces of the margins present reflecting walls adapted to reflect light at various angles from the guard G.

As shown in Fig. 2, the guard G may be mounted upon a guy wire 4 by means of a bifurcated clamping member 5 which receives one of the aperture walls as shown at 6 and the guy wire 4. Preferably disposed between the aperture wall as shown at 6 and the guy wire is pad 1 the ground indicated in broken lines In. The .lower end of the guard G may be attached to the ground rod 9 in a manner similar to that described with reference to Fig. 2. It is therefore believed unnecessary to illustrate the attachment at this end of the guard.

The guard of this invention may, as a result of the manner in which it is constructed, be made of relatively light sheet metal. The resulting shape of the guard as illustrated in Fig.. 2

produces a very strong structure irrespective of the relative thickness of the metal and the minimum amount of metal.

Another novel result which'has been secured by the guardof this invention is in increasing the safety to persons approaching the guard'l at night by reason of the large number of reflecting surfaces upon the guard and the large number of angles at which the surfaces reflect light.

It will be also seen that the guard of this invention requires. a minimum of metal in its manufacture and in so doing permits a construction which will allow free ventilation of air through the guard without destroying its function as a guard.

The perforated guard herein disclosed enables a lineman to easilysee and manipulate all parts necessary in mounting the guard on a guy wire, thus simplifying the installation of the guard andreducing the time required for installation 40 I to a minimum.

I claim:

1.,A guy wire guard comprising an elongated cylindrically shaped metal body provided with perforations throughout its length and, periphery, the metal between the perforations serving as longitudinal bracing maintaining the cylindrical shape of said body.

'2. A guy wire guard comprising an elongated cylindrically shaped metal body provided with a plurality of apertures throughout its length, the margins of the apertures being angularly disposed relative to said body to form reflecting surfaces and serving as longitudinal bracing maintaining the cylindrical shape of said body.

3. A guy wire guard comprising an elongated y sheet of metal having a plurality of adjacent apertures throughout its surface with the walls thereof spread to form in effect a network, the sheet being bent into cylindrical shape and the margins between the apertures serving as longitudinal bracing maintaining the cylindrical shape of said sheet. a

4. A guy wire guard" comprising an elongated circumferential body provided with a plurality of adjacent apertures throughout the major portion of its length and circumference, the. margins of l the apertures being angularly disposed relative to the periphery of the body to serve as reflecting surfaces. e

the guard comprising diamond mesli nexpanded metal arranged in a generally elongated rigid.

rigidity of the guard.

hollow form to at least partially surround the wire or the like, the diamond shaped openings in 'the expanded metal afiording visibility therethrough without destroying the rigidity'of the guard.

6. A wire guard adapted for attachment to a guy wire or the like to attract attention thereto, the guard comprising a unitary sheet 'of diamond mesh expanded metal elongated generally in the direction of the long dimensions of the diamonds and with the side edges of the sheet bent around 'so that the guard is of generally elongated rigid hollow form so as to be adapted to at least parv tially surround the wire or the like, the diamond shaped openings in the expanded metal afiording visibility therethrough without destroying the RALPH H. EARLE. 

